Co-production in the recruitment of frontline public service employees

Abstract

This article analyses whether involving public service users in the recruitment of frontline employees (FLEs) helps to identify candidates who have the skills needed to co-produce with citizens. It investigates user involvement in FLE recruitment in three public service organisations in Sweden – from the perspectives of service managers, service developers, Human Resource Managers, union representatives and frontline employees. It finds that involving users was perceived to be beneficial for attracting and identifying applicants with a user-centred mindset. User involvement was also seen useful for establishing realistic expectations of what public services can deliver. However, a perceived challenge was to ensure equality and equity of user contributions. This included finding users who were sufficiently informed but without resorting to ‘expert users’. Many users required preparation, which added to the complexity and cost of recruitment, and it was important to overcome internal resistance by involving staff in designing and trialling the process.

From co‐design to co‐production: Approaches, enablers, and constraints in developing a public health, capacity‐building solution

“…It involves additional partners to build the service design solution which "were traditionally seen as the sole responsibility of professionals" (p. 476). 4 Co-production ideally involves rapid iteration cycles, overseen by a 'design working group' comprising different members or teams with specific expertise, along with end-users as required. 17,18 In light of the above, this article aims to detail the experience of the co-production process and document how the PPKN design working group undertook the solution build for the Campfire project.…”

“…Contrary to other co‐production conceptualisations, 11 we see co‐production as the next sequential step in the co‐design process which is focused on the implementation and testing of all developed ideas. It involves additional partners to build the service design solution which “were traditionally seen as the sole responsibility of professionals” (p. 476) 4 . Co‐production ideally involves rapid iteration cycles, overseen by a ‘design working group’ comprising different members or teams with specific expertise, along with end‐users as required 17,18 …”

“…Farmers and fishers (hereafter termed primary producers) commonly work in environments involving high levels of uncertainty and low levels of job control, placing them at considerable risk of poor‐mental health. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 While primary producers are clearly in need of preventative mental health programs, 2 they have been traditionally perceived as difficult to engage. 5 Evidence suggests that increasing the acceptability of mental health prevention programs improves uptake by primary producers.…”

“…It involves additional partners to build the service design solution which “were traditionally seen as the sole responsibility of professionals” (p. 476). 4 Co‐production ideally involves rapid iteration cycles, overseen by a ‘design working group’ comprising different members or teams with specific expertise, along with end‐users as required. 17 , 18 …”